Patent protection for stem cell procedures under the law of the European Union.

Stem cell research shows an immense diagnostic and therapeutic potential. The procedures based on human stem cells seem to allow new medical treatments for serious diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, leukaemia or diabetes. However, as no company or inventor would take the risk of immense investments without an adequate legal protection of the possible benefits arising out of their work, intellectual property law plays a pivotal role for the further development of stem cell techniques. Although international patent law knows protection of inventions using biological substances and living matter for about 160 years, patents on stem cells, DNA and other parts of the human body raise specific objections. Nevertheless, from a strictly legal angle, there are no barriers to patents on stem cell procedures. In particular, Art. 6 of the "Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of July 6, 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions" - which qualifies inventions as unpatentable where their commercial exploitation would be contrary to ordre public or morality - does not hinder patent protection for stem cell research.